Page 100 of The Rowdy Ones
Scout, finally aware that Evan is a threat, growls at him and barks nonstop. Evan isn’t worried about the dog. His eyes are on me, taunting and tormenting.
“Give it back to her,” I say, voice tight with tension. “Leave us the hell alone, man.”
“I was just messing around,” he says, smirking as he leans the cane against the table. “Oh, fuck, my bad.”
As soon as he utters the words, he stomps on my sister’s cane. The sturdy aluminum is no match for his jealous rage. It bends into a wide V shape before clattering to the floor. Scout snarls at Evan, but Destiny yanks at his pink sweater, keeping him from eating alive the monster in our RV.
Shame.
Scout isn’t the only one who wants to beat his ass. I curl my hands into fists, fighting the urge to pummel this asshole. Headlights flicker through the shades and Evan stiffens. He stares at us for a long beat. Then, with a wink my way, he leaves.
Fucking psychotic prick.
I hate him.
The awful tension in the air is sucked out the second Evan leaves. I turn toward Rowdy, sliding a palm up his chest. His heart hammers inside his ribcage, vibrating through my hand with each pump.
“He’s gone,” I assure him, rubbing at the center of Rowdy’s chest. “You’re okay.”
He takes hold of my wrist, careful to avoid the healing wound. “I am not okay. He may not be a murderer, but I want to kill him. With my bare hands. Fuck, I hate him.”
“Me too. But now that he knows where you stand and with how firmly you were tonight against him, it’s likely he’ll not come back. People like him thrive on being feared and intimidating others. When they can’t, they’ll find another victim.”
“I wonder if he treats his boyfriend the way he treated me,” Rowdy says, voice tight and shaky. “It disgusts me, but I don’t know what else to do about it. I would tell Alex, but he already thinks I’m trying to swoop in and steal his man. It’ll only make things worse.”
“That’s not your problem to worry about,” I assure him. “Right now, worry about taking care of Rowdy.”
He growls as if my words frustrate him. “I want to take care of you.”
I slide my palm up to his neck. “You do. Just by being you.”
“I let him break your cane,” he mutters, a crack in his words. “What kind of protector am I?”
I’d heard the crunching of the aluminum but hadn’t confirmed it until now. While it sucks, I can purchase one at the clinic. They have tons of them. Evan breaking my cane was nothing but an asshole move to upset Rowdy. It worked.
“I’ll grab another one on Monday.” I stand on my toes and tilt my head back. “Kiss me. You’ll feel better.”
His lips press to mine and I feel the smile on them. I can’t see him, but I just know he’s sexy. Everything about him makes my pulse pound and my flesh heat. He smells divine and all his sculpted muscles feel like stone when I touch him. Rowdy is beautiful.
He moves his hands down to my ass, squeezing me and pulling me closer to him. My breasts are smushed against his chest. I think he likes them there. His tongue teases and torments mine, reminding me of just how good he is at licking other places. Will this fire I feel for him ever be snuffed out?
Never.
It’s as if each day, hour, minute, second it burns hotter and brighter and bigger. One day, it’ll completely consume us both and I’m perfectly okay with that.
I know, eventually, people will find out about us. With us being in town, that could be a legal problem for both of us. And though it helps having a Knox as police chief, he can’t protect us from a scandal like that.
Gwen knows. Somehow she sees straight through our relationship, finding and bringing to light what she deems inappropriate or abusive. Because she cares deeply for her patients, I don’t think she’ll suddenly avoid probing this topic with me. In fact, I think she pushes harder each time we’re together.
If we weren’t together, I’d be free to learn everything there is to know about my disability and use all the resources available to me. But us being together jeopardizes that.
And while Wild knows about us and seems to be handling it well, that’s not to say Uncle Atticus and Aunt Eve would. They’re already such sticklers about our sleeping arrangements. If they knew what we did alone, they’d croak.
But what does returning home look like for us? We’re relatively safe from outsiders. Dad does his best to make sure of that. However, that freedom to be who we truly are, like Ryder, Ronan, and Raegan, comes at a price, specifically for me.
I lose this.
Candy stores and truck rides and milkshakes.
